SAWINE- A must try Recipe for Eid in Trinidad
Every year for Eid, one thing my mom made sure we had was sawine. She would wake up early and make it before anyone wakes up, and the house would be filled with the aroma of milk and spices! To me, it’s not eid without my mom’s sawine. after all, it’s the best in my eyes!
Growing up in multi-cultural Trinidad, we tend to incorporate various aspects of other religions into our own. Eid-ul-Fitr is one of them, and it marks the end of the holy month of Ramadhan which is significant to our Muslim community. Do you know what Eid-ul-Fitr means? Well, it’s of Arabic origin where “Eid” means celebration, and “fitr” means to break fast.
One of the popular desserts for this auspicious holiday is Sawine. It is a milk-based dessert which consists of toasted vermicelli, smothered in a sweet, creamy, milky concoction, infused with cinnamon, elychee, cloves and other spices. It also contains many additions or toppings such as maraschino cherries, almonds and raisins, just to name a few. I have tasted sawine from various places, and each person has their preference in terms of taste and flavour. The best for me is my mother’s ! It is just right! In terms of texture, level of sweetness and spices. The perfect combination in my eyes.
So here I share My Mother’s Sawine Recipe.
My mom!
Ingredients
1 200g pack of vermicelli
1 teaspoon ghee or margarine/butter
1 teaspoon elychee powder- cardamon/cardamom powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder
5 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
4 cups of boiling water
2 cups evaporated milk
1/2 tin of condensed milk- about 7 ounces
Additions (optional):
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup maraschino cherries
1/4 cup sliced almonds
You have to make sure and have all ingredients ready, since this is a fast process.
Learning Time:
What is Elychee?
Elychee (as we call it in Trinidad) or Elaichi in the middle east, is the powder generated from grinding the cardamom seeds. The seeds are found inside the cardamom pods which comes from a plant in the ginger family. The pods can be either black or green, and here in Trinidad, we find them in its green form.
Source: The SpruceEats
Method:
Empty the vermicelli in a bowl, and break it into 1-inch pieces using your hands. Place a heavy bottomed pot on medium heat. Add the ghee and allow to melt. Add the vermicelli, and “parch” or toast for about 5-10 minutes. Keep stirring constantly until the vermicelli goes from a pale colour to a golden brown colour. You can see the difference in colour below.
Add the elychee, clove and cinnamon stick, and stir. Add the 4 cups of boiling water and allow to come to a boil (about 10 minutes). Turn off the heat once it starts boiling . If you let this boil for too long, then your vermicelli will get soggy. I really don’t like it like that. Add the evaporated milk and condensed milk and stir to combine. Keep in mind that as this cools, it will thicken and you can just add more milk if necessary. At this point you can add the raisins and almonds directly to the pot, or you can add it as a topping to individual servings. But whatever you do- do not add the cherries yet, because this will make everything red!
Fill a bowl or cup and add the cherries as a garnish if you desire and Enjoy!!
